Category Archives: hiking

April 24, 2013

The blog is BACK & lots of updates

Did you miss me?! I know, I know.. I’ve been a bad blogger. But there’s a GOOD reason for it. It’s official, Run Like a Grl is now self-hosted (looong over-due). Of course, I am pathetic with technology so I had lots and lots of help from the lovely Becca (who I get to meet next week at the Nike Half!). Because of the transfer, I couldn’t post until it was complete. Hence, the blog silence.

I am trying to get all my subscribers transferred over from my old page, but just in case, you can always go to the sidebar and re-follow my blog so you get my posts by email. OR you can follow through bloglovin‘. Thanks, loves!

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Now for all the updates. So what exactly have I been doing in the past two weeks? Well, here’s the short version:

1. I cried, wore my race shirt, and ran for Boston. The events in Boston upset me more than I can put into words and I have been struggling to recover, despite not even being there. But I had friends there. Other runners were there. And when you attack one of us, you attack us all. I will be running in blue and yellow this weekend in the memory of those affected, and hope many others runners do the same.

Race shirt to work for Boston.

Race shirt to work for Boston.

2. I started my new job! This is the third week of my new job, and first one as a licensed occupational therapist. I am absolutely loving it so far and am happy to be treating patients again after time off to take my exam.

3. I went hiking at Bear Mountain in upstate NY. Karl and I took a day trip to Bear Mountain and went on a really challenging trail to test out our Merrell hiking shoes.

Bear Mountain hiking

Bear Mountain hiking

First, the shoes are AMAZING (mine have Vibram soles). Second, it was an amazing workout I was seriously sweating even though it was a chilly day. Plus, its fun and I didn’t fall once. Score!

Making our way up..

Making our way up..

My artistic photo of Karl through the trees.

My artistic photo of Karl through the trees.

4. I will be teaming up with Reebok to run the Spartan Race on June 2nd in Tuxedo, NY with a group of awesome Fitfluential Ambassadors. I am so lucky to be able to do this and recently got a bunch of awesome gear from Reebok. I’ll be sharing them with you, but this weekend I tried out the Reebok Sublite Duo shoes and loved them! I only did some walking in them, but they have a roomy toe-box and good support. Oh and the color is an obvious love of mine..

Reebok kicks.

Reebok kicks. Sublite Duo’s.

The Sublite Duo is made of a lightweight, dual-density foam technology which allows it to be super light but also supportive. As someone who gets occasional plantar faciitis and ITBS, I need some arch support in my shoes and these feel great in terms of that. I also like that the midsole has a softer density directly under the call of the foot. They also don’t need any breaking in which = love.

5. I signed up for the JP Morgan Corporate Challenge 3.5 mile race in June with my new company. I have always wanted to run this race so I signed up as soon as I found out I could. Can’t wait to run with my new coworkers!

6. I went to Smorgasborg in DUMBO, Brooklyn and enjoyed lots of delicious schnitzel and large donuts from Dough.

Sitting in the park after chowing down on deliciousness

Sitting in the park after chowing down on deliciousness

7. I’ve been running a lot, and feeling pretty good while doing it. Most recently I ran my last long run before the half at 10 miles across the bridges and the West Side. I’ll admit I have some lingering pain below my knee but I’m still hoping it goes away with more strength training. Its not awful though, so crossing my fingers it just disappears and I never have to worry about it again. Hey, it could happen!

The view from my recent run.

The view from my recent run.

8. I ate free Pinkberry every Wednesday this month. Pinkberry had a promotion this month for their new Greek frozen yogurt and has been giving away free cups every Wednesday in April between 11am-2pm. So needless to say I got on line early to get my froyo on.

9. I got lots of goodies from the amazing people at Vega and got to try out some amazing products from their Sport Edition. I especially love the cookie dough protein bar.. its de-licious and full of protein for post-run. If you haven’t check out the free Thrive Forward Sport Edition program (especially all you health-conscious runners out there) for lots of tips and recipes!

Vega goodies!

Vega goodies!

10. I’ll be running a half marathon on Sunday. Anyone else running the Nike DC Half?!

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Whew, that was a lot of info to update you all on. Now tell me what you’ve been up to, I missed you all!

PS. stay tuned for quite a few giveaways. They got backed up because of the transfer but soon to come!

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Filed under blogging, City life, FitFluential, food, half marathon, hiking, product review, summer running, Thrive Forward

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June 10, 2012

Lake Placid Day Two: Whiteface & Olympic Center + Giveaway Winner!

Warning: this post contains lots of awesome photos :)

I never got the chance to tell you about my day Saturday in Lake Placid because I had to head to bed early to prepare for today’s race! A race recap will be up at some point in the next few days but it was perfect weather and a GREAT half marathon experience. I finished in 2:22 even with knee pain starting around mile 10. More on that later.

Now back to Saturday. I’m so excited to share some of my pictures with you from this day! There is so much beautiful nature up in the Adirondacks, its incredible. The first thing my dad and I did was drive up to the summit of Whiteface Mountain (the 5th highest peak in NYS), which we originally planned to to the day before. In the summer, you can drive up Whiteface Veteran’s Memorial Highway which takes you to the top. On the way up there are lookout points and information about the nature and the mountain that you can stop at. It was a ton of fun and you can see the region from lots of angles.

At one of the lookout points on our way up the mountain.

On our way up.. incredible views.

Once you are near the summit, there is a landing where “Whiteface Castle” is. Inside there’s a gift shop and food. At this point you park your car and can either hike 1/5 of a mile to the top on a rocky terrain or take a creepy elevator 27 stories. I went with my dad on the elevator up (but took the hiking trail down), which was reminiscent of the Tower of Terror.

The “hiking” trail to the actually summit

Once we got out at the top, it was absolutely breathtaking. There are 360 degree views from the top where you can see the Adirondacks and Vermont, and even Montreal on a clear day. CRAZY! There’s also fantastic views of nearby Lake Placid. Here’s some awesome photos.

Made it to the top!

That’s Lake Placid.

Dad and I at the summit :)

Crazy elevation! It was pretty cold up there, which is how you know you were high up!

I have so many more pictures of this view that I am in love with, but you get the point. The Adirondacks are unlike anything I’ve ever seen and I highly recommend a trip up there, especially if you like hiking.

After we spent some time at the summit, it was time to go pick up my race packet. It was an easy process (more on that in my race recap) and was located in a facility right next door to the 1980 Olympic hockey “Miracle on Ice” rink, which we needed to check out of course!

The rink!

Got me all excited for London 2012!

Afterwards we went for some lunch and then headed back out to nature! On the road to Whiteface we had seen a sign for High Falls Gorge where there is a huge waterfall so we headed back there to see it. There was a small trail and they also built viewing decks into the rocks so you can see the falls and walk over bridges to get a nice view. The falls is a 700 foot drop and was really cool!

On our way to the falls. Crossing the river.

Part of the falls… it started up higher.

Part of the main falls

Theres hiking trails all over the place up and down these mountains. Its a great place to spend a few days in the woods exploring :) On our way back to the hotel from the falls, we saw more of the many triathletes that were in town for the weekend. There was a bike race being held as well as training for the upcoming Ironman in Lake Placid. They are amazing and had some awesome bikes!

After the falls we spruced up at the hotel, went for dinner (linguine and pizza.. carbs!), and went back to relax at the hotel for the evening. I headed to bed early for the race. Stay tuned for the recap :)

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Also, I wanted to announce the giveaway winner. I used random.org to generate the winner and it is..

GAIL!

You have 72 hours to contact me at runlikeagrlmegan@gmail.com or I will have to pick another winner. Please send me your name and mailing address so I can forward it to Cheribundi. Congrats!

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How was your weekend? Tell me about it!
Do you hike? Where is the best place you went hiking?

31 Comments

Filed under giveaway, hiking, vacation, weekend

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April 8, 2012

Saturday’s Plans: Running and Hiking

Yesterday’s Workout: lower body strengthening for my injury & lots of stretching
Today’s Workout: Scotland Run 10K and ~2.5-3 hours hiking

Today I ran the Scotland Run 10K in Central Park and had a blast (and a 10K PR!). I’ll write a race review soon and post it ASAP with some photos. It was a gorgeous day and there was great Scottish entertainment. I bought an IT Band strap and it helped a lot to get me through the race without much pain. Now its time to go cold turkey from running for probably around 2 weeks while I stretch and strengthen. Boo! I’m not sure if I’ll be ready for the Brooklyn Half Marathon on May 19 but I’m crossing my fingers in the hopes that I’ll be able to. Injuries seriously suck! But we will see, I definitely want to rehab this knee right.

I know I’ve mentioned IT Band Syndrome a lot lately and during my frantic hours of research about causes, treatments, recovery, etc., I found this awesome stretch. Apparently, IT Band treatment is A LOT of foam rolling, icing, and you guessed it… stretching. Unlike some of the others, I feel this one down my whole leg and even on the side of my knee. Check it out!!

 World’s Best IT Band Stretch by Dr. Geoffrey Alan Gray

After the Scotland Run I went to meet up with some undergraduate college friends in Highlands, NJ for a hike. The four of us spent the day walking and wandering around the trails and had a great time catching up. Pretty much I went from running in the morning to walking all afternoon. I am going to sleep well tonight!

During the hike we got lost a few times but to our defense, the trails were really poorly labeled. Seriously! The day was great. Its so nice to see friends you haven’t seen in a while, and when you do hang out its as if no time has passed in between meetings! Plus it was a really nice day out weather-wise and these trails were right near the beach, which made it even more pretty.

 A pier near the bay
 This was when we actually found the right trail. This was how the trails were labeled, by having one of these posts every few miles or so.
J, K, and me. 
L was taking this picture and I’m still waiting for one of the four of us!

Between the race and the hiking, this was a very outdoorsy day for me! My body is a bit sore to say the least, but it was totally worth it. After the hike, we had dinner at Chili’s then got some fro-yo and Starbucks, with lots of girly chit-chat throughout. Afterwards we went our separate ways and I tried not to fall asleep while driving. If you were wondering… I made it home alive. My knee is not feeling so great at the moment so its time for some serious icing. And since I’m at my parents house for Easter… Easter candy it is! Yum. I think I earned it today.

What did you do this weekend?

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Filed under hiking, injuries, races